1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a vehicular wiper device that wipes a windshield panel of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a wiper device used in a vehicle, wiper blades that wipe a surface of a windshield panel are held by wiper arms, and base portions of the wiper arms are held by pivotal pivot shafts. Furthermore, the pivot shafts are connected to output shafts of wiper motors through link mechanisms, such as lever crank mechanisms, so as to be capable of transmitting power (see Japanese Patent No. 4425306, Japanese Examined Utility Model Registration Application Publication No. 2-14528, for example).
In the wiper device described in Japanese Patent No. 4425306, the wiper motors are each controlled so as to repeat a normal rotation and a reverse rotation, and the normal and reverse rotation of the output shafts of the wiper motors are transmitted to the pivot shafts through the link mechanisms. With the above, in accordance with the normal and reverse rotation of the pivot shafts, the wiper blades reciprocate between lower reverse positions and upper reverse positions while wiping water drops and dirt on the surface of the windshield panel. Furthermore, in the above wiper device, the wiper blades are capable of moving to rest positions below the lower reverse positions so that the wiper blades can be rested at the lower edge in the front of the windshield panel when not in use.
Furthermore, in the wiper device described in Japanese Examined Utility Model Registration Application Publication No. 2-14528, when during normal use, the wiper motors are each controlled so as to rotate in one direction, and the rotation of each wiper motor in one direction is converted into a left and right pivoting motion at a predetermined range of angle of the pivot shaft through the lever crank mechanisms. However, in the above wiper device, during snowfall, when the snow is pressed and hardened at portions around the lower reverse positions of the wiper blades, there is a possibility that the lever crank mechanisms cannot be continuously operated; accordingly, when loads acting on the wiper motors through the wiper blades become equivalent to or larger than a prescribed value, the rotation direction of each of the wiper motors is reversed.